Winter is arriving soon. Our usual method of keeping the house at a comfortable temperature is, in Summer we keep all the doors and windows open to keep cool and in Winter we close them all and wrap up in a blanket .We only have a few days of cold, thankfully. For the last couple of years we have been thinking of getting a fireplace. As our house is a timber frame design, putting a brick fireplace in would have been a big project. The alternative was to get a metal free-standing one, but the prices in the hardware shops I felt where a little high, so was backed off from buying one. The other day we went into Builders Warehouse to get some paint and to our delight we saw they were selling off the old stock for half the price and there they had a fireplace which was exactly what we wanted. So I bought some face bricks and Tam started to build the base.
The table in the front, Tam made for Brionys' 60th birthday, which was a couple of weeks ago. She made it out of scaffolding planks that we had laying around.
Here below is the finished product. The temperature outside was 30 C so it was nice and warm inside , we will wait patiently for a cold day. In the meantime we have been collecting firewood from around the property.
Tam also made me a clock with our family crest on which I think is absolutely brilliant.
The table in the front, Tam made for Brionys' 60th birthday, which was a couple of weeks ago. She made it out of scaffolding planks that we had laying around. 
Here below is the finished product. The temperature outside was 30 C so it was nice and warm inside , we will wait patiently for a cold day. In the meantime we have been collecting firewood from around the property. 
